Chargers open playoffs and Rams close wild-card weekend as NFL announces schedule

Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times on Jan 6, 2025

Published in Football

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LOS ANGELES — The Chargers will open the NFL's wild-card weekend, and the Rams will close it.

The Chargers will play at Houston at 1:30 p.m. PST Saturday, and the Rams will play host to the loser of Sunday night's Minnesota-Detroit game on "Monday Night Football" at 5 p.m.

The rest of the playoff schedule, times Pacific, is as follows:

Pittsburgh at Baltimore at 5 p.m., Saturday.

Denver at Buffalo at 10 a.m., Sunday, followed by Green Bay at Philadelphia at 1:30 p.m. and Washington at Tampa Bay at 5 p.m.

This postseason features two rising-star rookie quarterbacks, at least two Week 1 rematches and one big phew.

That sigh of relief comes from the Chargers, who won at Las Vegas to claim the No. 5 seed in the AFC, earning a trip to Houston in the first round of the playoffs instead of going to Baltimore.

The Ravens are as hot as their weather is cold. The Texans, meanwhile, are up and down, having lost two of three and lacking star receivers and solid offensive line play.

The Chargers stand a far better chance of winning at Houston — which would be the first playoff victory for quarterback Justin Herbert — than rolling into Baltimore and winning another coaching matchup of Harbaugh brothers.

As for the Rams, they're waiting to face the loser of Sunday night's game between Minnesota and Detroit. The Rams beat the Vikings this season and lost to the Lions.

That Rams-Lions game was a season opener, so there could be three Week 1 rematches. The two we know for sure are Green Bay-Philadelphia and Washington-Tampa Bay.

The Packers and Eagles opened the season in Brazil — the first time the NFL has played in South America — with a Friday game won by Philadelphia, 34-29. In his debut with the Eagles, Saquon Barkley scored three touchdowns.

As with that opener, this wild-card game pits quarterbacks Jordan Love of the Packers and Jalen Hurts of the Eagles. Both are banged up. Love took a blow to his right elbow Sunday that caused his throwing hand to go numb. Hurts still needs to clear concussion protocol.

Washington-Tampa Bay — a matchup the Buccaneers won 37-20 in a season opener — features star rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels of the Commanders and up-from-the-ashes Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, two years removed from being released by the lowly Carolina Panthers. Mayfield, whose path back included a stint with the Rams, has had an outstanding season.

The other sizzling rookie in the postseason is Denver's Bo Nix, who led the Broncos to a 38-0 stomping of Kansas City's backups Sunday.

That result extinguished the playoff hopes of the darkhorse Cincinnati Bengals, who needed to couple their Saturday night win with losses by the Broncos and Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

Denver left no room for doubt, thrilling the home crowd with a decisive victory that sends the franchise back to the postseason for the first time since the Peyton Manning days nine years ago.

Denver has no simple task. The Broncos play at second-seeded Buffalo, with top-seed Kansas City earning the first-round bye.

In the other AFC matchup, it's Pittsburgh facing the division-rival Ravens in Baltimore. The teams split during the regular season, but Baltimore currently has all the momentum. The Steelers have lost four in a row, including a home defeat to the Bengals on Saturday night that would have earned Pittsburgh a more preferable postseason start in Houston.

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